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Killing Rampage in Sacramento Leaves Four Dead, One Missing

Aired August 20, 2001 - 15:54 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. JOIE CHEN, CNN ANCHOR: Again, staying with our live coverage here on CNN of a rampage situation in Sacramento, California. Actually, two communities right outside Sacramento. And you see there the local sheriff's department following up on -- that's the Sacramento County Sherriff's Department, following up their investigation as we're watching in on videotape from our affiliate KCRA TV, watching by helicopter, of the police as they continue this investigation.

Let's bring you up to date on what we know. Four people killed, all members of one family, they do believe. A 7-year-old girl is in critical condition at the hospital. And perhaps the biggest worry of all right now: a 2-year-old is missing. Police do have somebody they are searching for. He is the 27-year-old husband of the first victim they located today, a man named Nikolay Soltys. He was last seen driving a silver Nissan Altima that police say has been seen at both locations, the two locations where the victims were found today, and that is why they're continuing to pursue him. And they are very concerned that no one in the community approach that individual because they believe he might be dangerous.

There's been a little bit of a confusion. Early on we had heard from some of our affiliates -- again, this is a video now that we're watching from KCRA -- but early on we had heard that there was a stabbing involved, possibly a number of stabbings. However, the last report we heard from the Sacramento Sheriff's Department is that they're not clear about what happened and how these people were killed.

Let's listen now to affiliate KCRA TV.

TOM DUHAIN, KCRA REPORTER: A major manhunt is on the way, trying to find this man this afternoon. Back to you.

MALE KCRA ANCHOR: All right, Tom DuHain reporting live on the situation as it's been developing in both North Highlands and Rancho Cordova. At least four victims in the Rancho Cordova location, one victim so far that we know.

FEMALE KCRA ANCHOR: And they are still also looking for a 2- year-old boy, he is still missing. And of course they are continuing to look for that suspect. And we will have more news at 4:30 coming up. That does it for us at noon. CHEN: Local television there breaking away from their coverage. Here an at CNN we are staying on it, following the still-developing situation, as two communities right outside Sacramento -- North Highlands is one of the communities where they found the first victim in this case. They were called there by a 911 call, according to police, and there they found a woman dead. It is not clear how she was killed.

They moved on to a second location a bit further away, a little bit more directly to the east of the city of Sacramento, it's called Rancho Cordova. And in a home there in a community that they say has a lot of Russian immigrants in this area, they found three others who had been killed, two elderly folks, a man and a woman, and a baby boy as well. They found a 7-year-old girl who is in critical condition right now at a local hospital. They also say there was a 2-year-old should have been at that location who is missing at this point. And of course, Sacramento investigators are very, very concerned about that right now.

The person they are searching for at this point is a 27-year-old man who they say is the husband of the first victim they found. They've identified him as Nikolay Soltys. They say that he was driving a silver Nissan Altima. And so they are in pursuit of him, trying to locate him and determine what relationship he's had to these victims and whether he is indeed responsible. But they've already advised people living in the community that if they do come upon him, they should try to stay away from him and just notify authorities because they are very concerned that he may be dangerous to others at this point.

Police have also said they have a difficulty with communication in this community. As I noted earlier, they had said that there are a number of Russian immigrants living in this area and they have some language and communication difficulties as they try to pursue their investigation. So right now, they are still looking for this person who is at large. As well, a 2-year-old child who is missing they have not been able to locate at this point.

They do believe that the four people who were killed are all related, all members of the same family. They have not been able to identify how it was they were killed. And again, there is a 7-year- old girl as well who is in critical condition at a local hospital now.

CNN is continuing to follow this developing story. We'll get the latest information we can from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and we'll bring you up to date as soon as we can. Please stay tuned to CNN.

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